STATE OF WASHINGTON
ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
OPINION NO. 95-8
Question
May a judicial officer accept an invitation from Mothers Against Drunk
Drivers (MADD) to speak at the annual MADD/DUI Top Cop Award presentation?
The letter inviting the judicial officer to speak states that the
judicial officer is being invited because as the district court judge the
judicial officer presides over DUI cases.
The ceremony will recognize the patrol officer from each of the county
law enforcement agencies who issued the most DUI citations last year. The
county chapter of MADD would pick up the cost of the judge’s meal.
Answer
CJC Canon 2(A) provides that judges should conduct themselves at all
times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and
impartiality of the judiciary. CJC Canon 4(A) provides in part that judges
may participate in activities to improve the law, the legal system and the
administration of justice, if in so doing they do not cast doubt upon their
impartiality to decide any issue that may come before them. CJC Canon 5(B)
provides that judges may participate in civic and charitable activities
that do not reflect adversely upon their impartiality or interfere with the
performance of their judicial duties.
Because attendance at the dinner sponsored by MADD, honoring law
enforcement officers who issued the most DUI citations last year, would
reflect adversely upon the judicial officer’s impartiality to adjudicate
DUI cases and interfere with the performance of judicial duties, the
judicial officer should not accept the invitation to speak at that event.